Arrangement of stair-steps



c. ROBINSON,

Elastic Stairs.

No. 17,234. Pat ntedMay 5, 1857.

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CHARLES ROB INSON, OF OAMBRIDGEPORT, MASSACHUSETTS.

ARRANGEMENT OF ST'AIR-STEPS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 17,234, dated May 5, 1857.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES ROBINSON, of Cambridgeport, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulElastic Stair for Stairways; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full and exact description thereof, reference being bad to theaccompanying drawings, making part of this specification, Figure 1 beinga front elevation of a flight of stairs provided with my improvement;Fig. 2, a vertical sect-ion thereof in the plane indicated by the line00, m, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a View of the under side of one of the elasticsteps.

Like letters designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

The nature of my invention consists in supporting the steps of stairs bysprings situated beneath them, substantially as herein described, forthe purpose of rendering the ascent and descent thereon light, soft andeas Iii order to apply my improvement to stairs already constructed,supporting blocks O, C, are placed upon the stairs A, A, near the endsthereof, (as'shown in Fig. 1,) upon which the ends of superadded stepsB, B, are secured. The height of these blocks should only be suflicientfor the purpose intended. Under the middle of each superadded step isthen'placed a spring D, either an elliptic spring, as represented, orany other suitable kind, such as one of india-rubber, for instance. Ifthe elliptic spring is used, it may beriveted to a fianch (Z, and thisscrewed to the bottom of the step, as shown in Fig. 3. lVhen the springis placed under the middle of the step, as above described, the stepshould be divided in the center, asshown at a, a, a, in the three uppersteps; or partially divided on the under side, as shown at b, b,

in the other steps. This is to allow each step to adapt itself to themovements of the spring on which it rests.

In order to conceal the springs beneath the superadded steps, and togive a handsome finish to the stairs, an ornamental screen f, may beplaced in front thereof, as shown in Fig. 1; or a strip 9, may passalong between the supporting blocks O, C, upon the front edge of eachstair A; behind which strip, another divided strip 72, attached to thesuperadded step, may move upward and downward.

Instead of supporting the ends of the superadded steps by blocks, andlocating the springs under .the middle thereof, there may be a springunder each end of each step, and thus give equal elasticity to the wholestep.

When stairs are first constructed with my spring supports, the springsmay be placed beneath the ordinary steps A, A, being suitably supportedbeneath and behind the stairs, and thus dispense with the superaddedsteps.

The advantages of elastic stairs, as above described, are obvious. Notonly is the tread soft and nearly noiseless, but persons are enabled toascend and descend the stairs with such ease, as to render theimprovement of great value to invalids.

What I claim as my invention, is-- Placing beneath each step a spring,or springs, so as to give an elastic movement thereto in ascending anddescending upon the stairs, for thepurposes specified.

The above specification of my improved elastic stair, signed by me this16th day of February, 1857.

' CHARLES ROBINSON.

WVitnesses:

JUSTIN A. JAcoBs, A. K. P. WELCH.

